U.S. State Department Softens Tone on Mexico

The violence attributable to the drug cartel crisis is not systematic throughout Mexico, a U.S. State Department spokesman reportedly said on Friday.

“We notice that many of the violent activities are localized in several different places. They are not general across the north of Mexico, let alone through … the entire country,” State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid was quoted as saying by the AFP news service.

The statement comes after the State Department issued a Travel Alert Feb. 20 highlighting the escalating violence in border cities  such as  Tijuana, Chihuahua City and Ciudad Juarez.

The alert triggered blanket news coverage in which commentators as varied as NPR and Fox’s Bill O’Reilly either stated or implied that the drug cartel violence was spread throughout the entire country.

Travel Alert vs. Travel Warning. It’s worth noting that the State Department issued a “Travel Alert” for Mexico, instead of a  “Travel Warning.”

Travel Warnings are “issued to describe long-term, protracted conditions that make a country dangerous or unstable.” They are also issued if the State Department believes “the U.S. Government’s ability to assist American citizens is constrained due to the closure of an embassy or consulate or because of a drawdown of its staff.”

Countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan are subject to Travel Warnings. Colombia is the only country in Latin America for which a Travel Warning has been issued.

Travel Alerts are ” issued to disseminate information about short-term conditions… that pose imminent risks to the security of U.S. citizens.”

Events triggering travel alerts include “natural disasters, terrorist attacks, coups, anniversaries of terrorist events, election-related demonstrations or violence, and high-profile events such as international conferences or regional sports events…”

The fact the State Department issued a Travel Alert (i.e., a short term problem) , instead of a Travel Warning (i.e, long-term problem), runs counter to recent speculation by some news commentators that Mexico is on the verge of being a “failed state.”

The agency’s most recent statement that this temporary problem is “localized” casts further doubt on this assessment.

Photo by joseloya (Via Creative Commons)